The present invention relates to methods and apparatuses for cutting poultry paws.
The United States poultry industry produces hundreds of thousands of pounds of chicken paws each year. Most of these products are exported for consumption overseas. One of the most important quality parameters for these paw products are the length of the overhanging tendons left in the paws. The best quality paws will have tendon lengths of one-quarter inch or less.
Unfortunately, the paw-cutting/trimming devices heretofore employed in the art have not been able to consistently and uniformly provide the quality of product cut desired. The prior art paw-cutting devices are primarily designed to cut the paws as they are being carried by a shackle-type conveyor.
Thus, a need presently exists for a paw-cutting system which will consistently and uniformly provide a high quality product having few overhanging tendons. Of course, such system would also preferably cost no more to build, install, and maintain than the cutting devices heretofore used in the art.
The present invention satisfies the needs and alleviates the problems discussed hereinabove. In one aspect, the invention provides a method of cutting poultry paws comprising the steps of: (a) placing the poultry paws in a rotating wheel and (b) cutting the poultry paws as the poultry paws are carried by the rotating wheel. In another aspect, the invention provides an apparatus for cutting poultry paws comprising: (a) a rotatably drivable wheel having a perimeter and having notches provided in the perimeter wherein the poultry paws are receivable and (b) a blade positioned with respect to the wheel such that the blade will cut the poultry paws as the paws are carried by the wheel. The inventive system also preferably includes means for continuously and automatically transferring the poultry paws to the rotating wheel from a shackle conveyor.
The inventive system costs no more than existing paw cutters, is very simple to construct, install, operate, and maintain, provides a more consistent, uniform, high quality product having fewer overhanging tendons, and significantly improves product yield. The inventive system also preferably operates to securely support the poultry paws on each side of the cutting blade such that a particularly smooth and consistent cut is obtained.
Further objects, features, and advantages of the present invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art upon examining the accompanying drawings and upon reading the following description of the preferred embodiments.